Professional-patient relationships and informed consent

Four theoretical ethical perspectives on professional-patient relationships-autonomy, justice, virtue ethics, and the ethic of care-are surveyed, and some of their implications for the informed consent requirement in health care are sketched out. The practical issues of competence to consent, adequate information, and voluntariness are reviewed, and examples are given of the ways in which the theoretical perspectives outlined earlier might inform practice in areas such as these. Finally, the situation of patients not competent to consent is considered in the light of the same theoretical perspectives.